The Sparkcog Cartel
Note: This article has information pertaining only to The Sparkcog Cartel in character. For OOC information, click here. Overview Ever since goblins claimed their independence and intelligence, the Sparkcog Cartel has stood among the five greatest cartels in the Trade Coalition. It is a cartel that often stresses its neutrality, assuring both the Alliance and Horde that not all goblins pick sides. The cartel operates out of several of its cities, which are scattered throughout Azeroth. Under current Trade Prince Zimirvox's rule, the cartel has prospered and massively expanded industrialism, outnumbering many other cartels in factories and production. Sparkcog Territories The cartel controls several cities, ports and towns peppered through the many landscapes of Azeroth. These civilizations are often situated in primary trading routes or where expansion seems ideal and imminent. Despite the major cities listed here, various small industrial towns and villages can also be found in Kezan. *'Shipwreck City' Shipwreck is the capital and the main seat of power of the Sparkcog Cartel. It is located on Sparkcog Isle, a small tropical island near Kezan, surrounded by hundreds of trade routes. Hundreds of boats pass by Shipwreck City every month, and it's ports are always bustling with trade. Races from all the corners of Azeroth can be found around the city, more often than not stopping by at the port or taverns. In terms of size and trade, it's key location has made it able to rival even Bilgewater Port. *'Sparkcog Undermine' Sparkcog Undermine was originally the capital of the cartel. It is a section of Undermine controlled by the Sparkcog Cartel. With the eruption of Mount Kajaro, it was damaged by tremors and lava spills which plagued most of Undermine. Though salvagable, repairs are still being undergone. *'Skyport' Skyport is one of the cartel's more unique ports, stretching far above the wastes of the Thousand Needles and sitting prominently atop a bluff. It was a large center for Zeppelin traffic. Following the Cataclysm, little word was heard from it for many months. Eventually, it was discovered the town had been moderately damaged by the tidal waves, though it's high location avoided further damage and it was eventually able to make a full recovery. *'Gizmospin Port' Gizmospin Port is a fishery and export owned by the mogul, Glucket Gizmospin. Despite being small and humble, it's location is a perfect stop for long journies between Northrend and Kalimdor to the Eastern Kingdoms, and thus it's ports are always bustling with activity. *'Westcog Harbor' Westcog Harbor is a large industrious city on Kezan. The entire city is a slum, and nearly the entire populace are factory working drudges. It is built into the side of a mountain and goes down into a harbor. It's most noticeable feature, besides it's towering and massive factories, is it's large and famous Footbomb field. The very small elite and rich class in Westcog lives high up on the city, perched upon it's massive factories which lay a towering shadow over the town. It is rumored that in ancient times Westcog Harbor went deep into the ocean and held a large city underwater, but no ruins have ever been found. *'Blackneedle' Blackneedle is the name given to cartel's number-one oil producing town, owned by Baron Ryypo. The name derives from it's location in Thousand Needles, and it's rich source of oil around the area. It was able to survive the flooding of Thousand Needles with minimal damage. Due to it's location near the Skyport, most of it's oil is often shipped via their Zeppelins and the two towns hold a close commerce bond. *'Everlook' Everlook, though a Steamwheedle owned town, has very close relations with the Sparkcog Cartel. Various businesses and buildings based in Everlook are owned by the Sparkcog Cartel. Baron Frizerk, the Steamwheedle-aligned Baron of Everlook, also holds close ties with Trade Prince Zimirvox and thus Everlook has a large and noticeable Sparkcog presence. *Steelvest Steelvest was once a large fort named Fort Krazzimo built hundreds of years ago. It was here that Trade Prince Keezno Steelvest led a decisive and brilliant tactical victory against the Bronzecrank Cartel, ambushing and crippling their transport fleets as they attempted to sail up the North Trader and attack Port Dynaz. Nearing the conclusion of the first Trade War, Steelvest began repairs to the old fort and built many new houses for Trade War I veterans. Over time, traders and homeless civillians flocked to the city, and it grew exponentially in a short time. Keezno would mysteriously dissapear five years after the Trade War, leaving his reparations of Fort Krazzimo unfinished. The city was voluntarily completed by his veterans, with funding from various moguls, and named Steelvest in his honor. Since then, it has grown into a prominent city with a small port along the North Trader, and is rich with museums and history commemorating the legendary Trade Prince Steelvest. *'Sludgestream' Sludgestream, like Westcog Harbor, is a heavily industrial city. Although barely considered a city, for it is rather a collection of massive factories conjoined by coincidence. Living up to its name, the city spills huge amounts of toxins and pollutants along the North Trader river it is based on. Despite the horrible living standards for its denizens, Sludgestream is one of the most heavily invested-in cities in all of the Sparkcog Cartel as every major corporation seeks to purchase large quantities of factories here. *'Port Dynaz' Port Dynaz is a prosperous port city which served as the de facto capital under Reklix's rule, despite Undermine holding more wealth at the time. The city is relatively untouched by goblin industrialism and is a beautiful tropical setting. Around forty years ago during Reklix's reign, the construction of any factories within five miles of the city was banned. Since then, and even for a time before, Port Dynaz has flourished as a high-class city filled with various resorts. Due to its proximity to the Eastern Kingdoms, this was one of the main hubs for non-goblin traders arriving on Kezan, mainly the human kingdoms such as Kul Tiras. Because of this, it was a long held misconception that all of Kezan is a beautiful and tropical paradise, which many still hold today. Sparkcog's History Ancient Sparkcog The details of the beginning of Sparkcog are blurry, but it is commonly agreed that it founded its roots nearly 10,000 years ago, as the Goblins began to surge in their intelligence. The Sparkcog Cartel quickly rose in power from Sparkcog's first unknown and ingenious Trade Prince, presumed to be named Trade Prince Sparkcog. From that time and ever since, it has been one of the strongest Cartels and a major figure in the Trade Coalition. Over this period of thousands of years the Sparkcog Cartel created a multitude of magnificent machines and performed great technological feats, as did all other goblins at the peak of their intelligence. They created magnificent underwater cities and research facilities which spanned all around Kezan, some even connecting to the Undermine. The Sparkcog also created various cities on Kezan, many which still prosper today, but have no trace of their great past. The Sparkcog Schism During a time approximately 1,000 years ago, the Sparkcog had suffered a great schism and a devastating civil war. Though the goblins of Kezan had thousands of wars, even at their great intelligence, this one was commonly noted to be the most devastating, even compared to other Cartels. Under the Trade Prince Nolarz Guzzik, a rebel Mogul named Qizon Ironrex amassed a large group of followers and led a rebellion against the Trade Prince. Though the reasons of this war are often subject to fiery debate, wether Qizon wanted Trade Prince for himself, or the Trade Prince was unpopular among many of his Moguls, it is agreed that there was never a chance of unity between the two parties. The war destroyed many of Sparkcog's settlements, some which lie in ruins to this day forever lost in the jungle, and presumably killed millions of goblins. After the war, both Qizon and Nolarz were killed, and none of their predecessors were strong enough to uphold power. The Sparkcog fell into chaos and anarchy, with various temporary and weak leaders coming to power. This trend of weakness would only continue over the years, and cause the Sparkcog Cartel to dramatically decrease in it's status and power. Sparkcog's Decline As Kaja'mite began to run out nearly five hundred years ago, the Goblins' intelligence rapidly dropped. The goblins' once-magnificent machines slowly became volatile, crude, and dangerous. Sparkcog's once magnificent underwater cities also fell into ruin, due to poor maintenance and natural forces. They were inevitably all abandoned, and left as ancient ruins to an old empire. These circumstances did not help the Sparkcog's situation after the Great Civil War, which the Cartel still had not recovered from. The Sparkcog's power and territories had shrunk over half of what it use to be, and various Cartels had began aggressively taking their land. As the first Trade War began, one legendary Trade Prince was able to rise amidst the chaos and fend off three other Cartels. The First Trade War Keezno Steelvest, greatly lacking in economic and business skills, made up for it in his brilliant military prowess. He adopted the last name "Steelvest" for he always wore a heavy, bullet-proof chestplate. Forming his own regime and overthrowing the last weak Trade Prince, Keezno was able to temporarily strengthen the Sparkcog. Knowing Sparkcog's weakness, nearly all the Cartels sent a medium to small sized army into their lands, expecting easy victories and riches to fuel larger battles in other places. With every Cartel sending an army, their small forces piled up into a huge ammount of invaders. But, this did not lead Keezno to falter, and as Sparkcog was again plunged into chaos he devised his strategy. As more Cartels began to see how much land they won, they began to send larger armies to take more. As these armies grew, the other Cartels began to conflict with each other over Sparkcog land. Though, during this time Steelvest had been far from idle, and created a large system of spies and agents which watched over the enemy. Using this great advantage, and his superior knowledge of the landscape, he charged the Cartels as they fought eachother, gaining swift victories from the confused, weak, and startled enemies. Though his forces were not well armed, Steelvest's speechs were said to make any goblin forget his greed for his Cartel. By the end of the Trade War, Keezno had plundered thousands of Macaroons worth of supplies from invaders of his own land, and regained a majority of Sparkcog territory it had been losing over hundreds of years. Unfortunately, Keezno was only a military genius, and though order in the Sparkcog Cartel had been greatly improved, the economy still lacked. Despite being ruthless and effective, he was said to have a heart of gold, and was widely respected. Around five years after the First Trade War, Keezno took a pilgrimage to Mount Kajaro's top, where he never returned. Anarchy ensued again, until Dazian Reklix, once a dragon gunner for Steelvest's army, and afterwards a successful profiteer, rose to power. Reklix's Rule Under Reklix's rule, the Sparkcog's economy began to pick up and trading grew. Though still considerably weak, Sparkcog was now much more wealthier, and supported a growing military due to Keezno's reign. Trade Prince Reklix also began to reestablish contact with The Steamwheedle Cartel, an age old ally to the Sparkcog and the only Cartel that did not invade the Sparkcog Cartel during the first Trade War. With Steamwheedle support and a restoration to stability, the Sparkcog made a huge recovery and regained much of their former power in only a few years. By the time the next Trade War broke out, ten years after the first, the Sparkcog Cartel was ready to combat their enemies as a goblin power once again. Reklix would later come into competition with a rising goblin star, Zimirvox Gastro Zimirvox. Eventually, Gastro gained the upper hand, and usurped the title of Trade Prince from Dazian Reklix. Though Reklix had laid a strong economic foundation, the Sparkcog Cartel would grow into much greater heights and reclaim it's former glory under the new Trade Prince. Sponsors and Products Like all of its cousin corporate families, the Sparkcog Cartel manufactures, produces and sells a wide variety of products which are not only signature to, but symbolic of the cartel and its employees. *'Gizmospin Industries' Gizmospin Industries is a large corporation owned by mogul Glucket Gizmospin. The industry manufactures several of the cartel's most popular accessories and assets. *'Lungbuster Cigars' Smoking tobacco is in constant high demand, and anyone who has ever tried one of Gizmospin Industries' famous Lungbuster Cigars will note its surprisingly high quality complemented by a sweet aroma. (It really smells like oil, ironically.) *'Sparkcog Cola' Sparkcog Cola is a popular soft drink found in numerous vending machines produced by the Sparkcog Cartel: despite being a Sparkcog creation, it is drunken by goblins of any affiliation. Its success lies in a secret recipe which has been held top-secret for many years. *'Root Brew' Root Brew is another popular soft drink manufactured by Gizmospin Industries. Though not as popular as Sparkcog Cola, it still finds itself making millions. *'Footbomb' The Sparkcog Cartel has its own footbomb team called the Sparkcog Swashbucklers. They are a fairly successful and competitive team and have won the Kezan Cup twice in the last decade. *'Hobgoblins' The Hobgoblin business gained popularity around twenty years ago, near the founding of Shipwreck City. It has now expanded to a massive industry and originally fueled much of Shipwreck's income during it's starting days. *'Auctions' The cartel is perhaps famous for its wide variety of extravagant and intriguing auctions. Often hauling in treasures from all over the world, many Sparkcog settlements sport a neutral and often times very successful auction house. *'Sea Vessels' The Sparkcog Cartel posseses a large sea vessel industry, and produces a wide range of high-quality (for goblins) ships. They range from massive battleships and dreadnaughts, to submarines for various tasks such as drilling or exploring, and then to mere fishing and rowboats. Military Sparkcog's success lies in its neutrality, and its neutrality relies on its resourceful bruisers to keep the peace in each settlement. The cartel invests heavily in its bruisers and navy, and boasts one of the most powerful dreadnaughts in the South Seas, The Steel Leviathan, commandeered by General Vixx Steelwrench. The Sparkcog Cartel has three other generals, Kazgin Ironbolt, Greel Boomzork, and Wrench Forgeblast. Along with their four generals, they have three Admirals: Grizzlo Sharktide, Keez Deviltooth, and Pask Zapnozzle. Though some may believe such a lethal army is over-the-top, the South Seas is a dangerous territory to tread, and not only do pirates lurk freely but sea monsters and krakens as well. Category:Trade Prince Category:Goblin Category:The Sparkcog Cartel Category:Cartel Category:Retired Guild